Panty hose

ABSTRACT

A combination two-legged garment of the type commonly known as &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;panty hose&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; including a pair of seamless, sheer, heeless stocking portions knit integrally with and depending from the panty portion. The stocking portions are boarded without the usual heel pocket and are knit of stretchable thermoplastic yarn not in excess of about 30 denier to provide sheerness and sufficient stretchability that the garment can be manufactured and sold in two or three sizes which will fit the full size range.

United States Patent Berry *Oct. 10, 1972 [54] PANTY HOSE [72] Inventor:Clyde A. Berry, Valdese, N.C.

[73] Assignee: Pilot Research Corporation, Valdese, N.C.

[*1 Notice: The portion of the term of this patent subsequent to March28, 1984, has been disclaimed.

22 Filed: March 27,1967

[21] Appl. No.: 626,289

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No.531,248,

March 2, 1966, Pat. No. 3,310,966, and a continuation-in-part of Ser.No. 618,650, Feb. 27, 1967, Pat. No. 3,377,826.

[52] U.S. Cl. ..2/224 R [51] Int. Cl. ..A4lb 9/04 [58] Field of Search..2/224 R, 227, 240; 66/177,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,826,760 3/1958 Rice..2/224 R 3,490,076 l/ 1970 Matthews .66/ 178 A X 2,736,945 3/1956Burleson et al. .....66/l78 A X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS1,165,908 6/ I 958 France ..66/178 1,427,369 12/ 1965 France ..66/ l 78407,539 12/1924 Germany ..66/178 Primary Examiner-H. Hampton HunterAttorney-Parrott, Bell, Seltzer, Park & Heard [57] ABSTRACT Acombination two-legged garment of the type commonly known as panty hoseincluding a pair of seamless, sheer, heeless stocking portions knitintegrally with and depending from the panty portion. The stockingportions are boarded without the usual heel pocket and are knit ofstretchable thermoplastic yarn not in excess of about 30 denier toprovide sheerness and sufficient stretchability that the garment can bemanufactured and sold in two or three sizes which will fit the full sizerange.

5 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEB OUT 10 I972 3 696,444

SHEET 2 [IF 2 PANTY HOSE This application is a continuation-in-part ofmy copending applications, Ser. No. 531,248, filed Mar. 2, 1966 (now US.Pat. No. 3,310,966) and Ser. No. 618,650, filed Feb. 27, 1967 (now US.Pat. No. 3,377,826).

The present invention relates generally to ladies panty hose of the typewhich includes a pair of sheer stocking portions adapted to cover thefeet and legs, and an upper reinforced portion adapted to cover thelower trunk portion of the wearer, up to the waist.

Panty hose type garments have become quite popular in the last few yearsfor several reasons. For example, panty hose eliminate the need forstocking supporters, such as garter belts, garter fasteners, girdles andthe like. Therefore, panty hose are very popular for wear withtight-fitting clothing, such as slacks, since there are no garterfasteners to form objectionable bulges in the clothing.

Panty hose are also very popular at present because of the currentfashion trend toward short skirts and dresses. The stocking portions ofthe panty hose can be extended all the way up the leg to the pantyportion. Since the stocking portions completely cover the legs, the topsof the stockings are not visible, even when worn with very short skirtsand dresses.

Although panty hose are becoming increasingly popular with theconsumers, known types of panty hose have a distinct disadvantage, froma manufacturing and merchandising standpoint. Conventional types ofpanty hose must be manufactured in a large range of different footsizes, as well as a range of different lengths for each foot size. Inorder to be able to properly fit all sizes, the merchant must maintainall the different sizes in inventory.

In an attempt to reduce the number of sizes which must be manufacturedand the number of sizes maintained by the retailer, it has been proposedthat the panty hose be knit of a stretchable type yarn. The use ofstretchable type yarns has been effective to the degree that the pantyhose can be made in a lesser number of sizes.

It has also been proposed that tube type stockings be utilized in themanufacture of panty hose. This eliminates the knitting of differentfoot sizes on the knitting machine, since a formed heel pocket is notknit into the stocking. However, these tube stocking blanks have a heelpouch formed during the boarding operation and the panty hose are stillmanufactured and sold in different foot sizes. Thus, when buyingconventional types of panty hose, the consumer must consider both thefoot size and leg length in order to obtain the proper fit.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an object of the present invention toprovide a panty hose wherein the stocking portions are knit of a finegauge thermoplastic stretchable yarn and are boarded without the usualheel pouch or pocket so that the panty hose may be manufactured and soldin not over two or three sizes which will fit the normal size range.

The panty hose of this invention maybe manufactured and sold in a veryfew sizes, since it is not necessary to provide various foot sizes.Since the stretchable stocking portions of the panty hose of the presentinthe fabric in the lower portion of each stocking into a conformingfoot and heel configuration when the garment is worn. The present pantyhose is manufactured and sold with only one variable, as far as size isconcerned, and that is the overall length of the panty hose. Thus, thispanty hose can be made in two, or not more than three lengths, whichcorrespond with the height of the wearer.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objectswill appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is an isometric view of apair of seamless stocking blanks of the type utilized in forming thepresent panty hose;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the unfinished panty hose, showing thelower toe portions being closed and illustrating the manner in which theupper portions form the panty portion when sewn together;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the panty hose, illustrating the manner inwhich the upper portions of each stocking blank are connected togetherwith a crotch patch therebetween;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the upper waistband portion, illustrating the manner in which an elastic band may beconnected to the upper edge of the turned welt portion;

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of the completed panty hose, after boardingand finishing, and in flattened condition with the front and rear of theupper panty portion being folded inwardly, and illustrating the heelessnature of that lower portion of each stocking portion which is adaptedto fit the foot and ankle;

FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of the panty hose, illustrating themanner in which the lower portions of the stockings conform to the foot,heel and ankle of the wearer; and

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 but showing a rear perspective view.

Generally, the panty hose of the present invention includes an upperpanty portion, broadly indicated at P (FIGS. 5-7) and a pair of seamlesstube type sheer stretch stockings, broadly indicated at L and L. Theupper ends of the stocking portions L, L are integrally knit with andconnected to the panty portion P by a run-stop band 11 of specialstitches. The lower ends of the stocking portions L, L are provided withrespective closed toe ends 12, 12'.

The flattened and finished panty hose shown in FIG. 5 is divided intothree sections A, B and C. The section A indicates the length of thepanty portion P and the sections B and C divide the stocking portion Linto an upper portion B and a lower portion C. The length of the lowerportion C is slightly less than half the overall length of the stockingportion L and encompasses that lower portion of the stocking which isadapted to fit the foot, heel and ankle of the wearer.

This lower portion C is heeless, of substantially the same widththroughout, and the rear edge is substantially straight and parallelwith the front edge. The rear edge of the upper portion B graduallycurves outwardly, inwardly and then outwardly to provide a suitableshape to aid in adapting this portion of the stocking to fit the calf,knee and thigh of the wearer. Thus, the upper portion B progressivelyincreases in width as it extends upwardly from the lower portion C. 1

An illustrative but non-limiting example of the manner in which thepanty hose is formed will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1-4.Referring particularly to FIG. 1, long tubular stocking blanks areindividually knit on a fine gauge circular seamless hosiery knittingmachine, having on the order of about 400 needles. The stocking blank isknit from top to bottom and the upper edge portion is preferablyprovided with a small turned welt portion 13 which is knit of a heavydenier nylon stretch yarn from about 60 to 70 denier.

The turned welt portion 13 is formed in the usual manner except that itis shorter than the normal turned welt of a ladies stocking, preferablyabout 1% inches. Knitting of the heavy denier stretchable yarn continuesto form the reinforced tubular panty portion P, down to the run-stopband 11. Any suitable type of special stitch may be utilized to form therun-stop band, and in the present instance, the band 11 is formed byknitting a few courses of a fine denier nylon yarn alternating withcourses of the heavy denier stretchable yarn. The heavy denier coursesare formed of a repeated pattern of three plain stitches and a held orelongated stitch. The fine denier nylon courses are formed of a repeatedpattern of three plain stitches and a tuck. The tucks of the fine deniercourses are formed in the same wales as the elongated or held stitchesof the heavy denier courses. The wales in which the elongated or heldstitches and the tucks occur are stopped in a walewise direction withthe knitting of successive pairs of courses. The run-stop band 11 ispreferably knit about 40 courses wide.

The sheer stocking portion L is preferably knit in a two-feed manner andof a fine denier nylon stretch yarn, not in excess of about 30 denier.While other types of stretchable yarn may be utilized, it is preferredthat the stocking portion be knit of denier lively or torque nylonyarns. The yarns in successive courses have torque in oppositedirections and have sufficient torque to cause the stitch loops todistort or incline in directions corresponding to the torque direction.Generally, the knitting of sheer stretch stockings by the 7 use oftorque yarn is disclosed in US. Pat. No.

2,771,759, issued Nov. 26, I956.

The stocking portion L may be knit of any type of plain or patternedstitch, and it is preferred that the size of the stitch loops begradually reduced as the stocking blank is knit to produce a slighttaper and reduce the width of the fabric at the lower portion of thetube, as illustrated in FIG. 1. After the required number of courseshave been knit to produce the desired length in the stocking portion L,a band of reinforced fabric 14 is knit at the bottom.

The lower end of the tubular blank may beclosed in any suitable mannerto form the toe end portion 12. An arcuate line of stitching may beformed by a conventional overedge seaming machine having a cuttingdevice for removing the surplus fabric as the seam is formed, asillustrated by the dotted lines in FIG. 2. It is preferred that thestocking blanks be wrong side out as the lower toe end is closed andthen turned right side out so that the seam is located on the inside ofthe blank.

The stocking blanks may be boarded and heat-set at this stage; i.e.,after closing the toe end 12 and before joining them together, or theymay be joined together before they are boarded, in a manner to bepresently described. In either event, novel boarding forms must be usedhaving a heeless configuration of substantially the same shape as theflattened panty hose shown in FIG. 5.

In FIG. 2, the manner in which the stockings are connected together isillustrated with the leg portions L and L being in the greige orunboarded condition with the toe portions 12, 12' closed by the arcuateseam. The inner, upper portion of each stocking blank is cut or slit ina walewise direction from the upper edge downwardly to a point adjacentthe run-stop band 11, along the line indicated at 15 in FIG. 1. Thefront edge 15a and rear edge 15b, formed by the cut 15, may be directlyjoined to corresponding edges of another stocking blank by a U-shapedseam line to connect the upper portions of the stocking blanks togetherand form the upper panty portion P. However, it is preferred that adiamond-shaped crotch patch 17 (FIG. 2) be connected between thestocking blanks and ad jacent the juncture of the edges 15a, 15b.

The crotch patch 17 is preferably offset rearwardly so that it extendsup the rear portion of the garment to a slightly greater extent, asillustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. If a greater width is desirable across therear and around the upper edge of the panty portion of the garment, thecrotch patch 17 may be continued up between the rear edges 15b, 15b ofthe stocking blanks. It is preferred that an elastic band 20 be suitablyconnected, such as by sewing,'to the upper edge of the turned weltportion 13, in the manner indicated in FIG. 4.

Groups of the panty hose are folded and placed in dye bags and dyed tothe desired shade. The dyed panty hose are then finished by heat-settingon a special boarding device which includes a pair of closely spacedside-by-side boarding forms, shaped to correspond to the configurationshown in FIG. 5. The forms extend below the upper waist opening of thepanty hose and are connected together by a suitable spacer block. Curvedrods extend upwardly from the spacer block and between the boardingforms to hold the front and rear portions of the panty portion in aninwardly folded condition, as shown in FIG. 5, during the boardingoperation. The panty hose is boarded at about 245 F. to shrink the yarnand draw the stocking portions inwardly so that they are heat-set andconform to the heeless shape of the boarding form.

The panty hose may be dyed and heat-set while on the special boardingforms in a single continuous process, in what is known as thedye-boarding process. In this process the garments are placed on formsand successively subjected to the dyeing, heat-setting and shrinking,and drying steps before they are removed.

The panty hose of the present invention are manufactured in only twosizes which will fit the normal size range; i.e., ladies from 5 feet 1inch to 5 feet 8 inches in height. In the event it is desirable to fitsizes outside of this normal range, the stocking blanks could be knit inthree different lengths.

The two sizes of panty hose may be referred to as long and short. Thelong panty hose is substantially identical to the short panty hoseexcept that the stocking blanks are knit about 2 inches longer. Theshort panty hose will fit ladies from about 5 feet 1 inch to about 5feet 5 inches in height, and the long garment will fit ladies from 5feet 5 inches to 5 feet 8 inches in height.

The run-stop band 1 l is provided to prevent running of the fabric belowthe slit 15, before and during the sewing operation. The run-stop band11 also permits the removal of the stocking leg portions L and L' fromthe panty portion P when runs occur in the stocking portions and thepanty portion P may be worn without the stocking portions.

The heeless stocking portions of the present panty hose have sufficientstretch characteristics to permit the fabric to cling and uniformlyconform to the feet of the wearer, without wrinkles, bulges oruncomfortable tightness, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. In effect, thelength and shape of the feet of the wearer shapes the fabric of thelower stocking portions into a conforming foot and heel configurationwhen the panty hose is worn, resulting in surprisingly good andcomfortable fit, even though the stocking portions have no permanentlyshaped heel.

The heeless panty hose of the present invention eliminates manufacturingand merchandising panty hose of different foot sizes and thereby reducesthe manufacturing cost. Since only two or three sizes of panty hose aremaintained in inventory by the retail merchant, the purchaser need notknow the exact size required, but will need to know only the approximateheight of the wearer.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferredembodiment of the invention and although specific terms are employed,they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in theclaims.

Iclaim:

l. A knitted panty hose including an upper panty portion and a pair ofseamless tube type sheer stockings portions knit integrally with anddepending from the panty portion, said stocking portions each being knitof a thermoplastic stretch yarn not in excess of about 30 denier, saidpanty portion being knit of a stretchable yarn of heavier denier thanthe yarn in the stocking portions, the stocking portions each includinga closed lower toe end, and a seamless tubular portion extendingupwardly from said toe end, at least that lower portion of said tubularportion adapted to fit the foot, heel and ankle being heeless and ofsubstantially the same width throughout, said lower portion beingboarded and heat-set on a heeless boarding form, and having a sufficientdegree of stretchability to permit the stocking portion to be drawn overthe heels of the wearer and to readily conform thereto.

2. A panty hose according to claim 1 wherein said thermoplastic stretchyarn has sufficient torque to incline the stitch loops in a directioncorresponding to the direction of the torque in the yarn, and successivecourses of said stocking portions being knit of yarns having oppositetorque.

3. A panty hose according to claim 1 wherein the upper part of saidseamless tubular portion includes a curved rear edge substantiallyconforming to the calf, knee and thigh of the leg of the wearer.

4. A panty hose according to claim 1 wherein said panty portion includesa double thickness turned welt portion at the upper end thereof, and anelastic waist band connected to the upper edge of said turned welt.

5. A panty hose according to claim 1 including a runstop band positionedbetween the panty portion and the stocking leg portions, said run-stopband comprising a plurality of courses of special stitches including astepped regularly recurring pattern of tuck stitches.

1. A knitted panty hose including an upper panty portion and a pair ofseamless tube type sheer stockings portions knit integrally with anddepending from the panty portion, said stocking portions each being knitof a thermoplastic stretch yarn not in excess of about 30 denier, saidpanty portion being knit of a stretchable yarn of heavier denier thanthe yarn in the stocking portions, the stocking portions each includinga closed lower toe end, and a seamless tubular portion extendingupwardly from said toe end, at least that lower portion of said tubularportion adapted to fit the foot, heel and ankle being heeless and ofsubstantially the same width throughout, said lower portion beingboarded and heat-set on a heeless boarding form, and having a sufficientdegree of stretchability to permit the stocking portion to be drawn overthe heels of the wearer and to readily conform thereto.
 2. A panty hoseaccording to claim 1 wherein said thermoplastic stretch yarn hassufficient torque to incline the stitch loops in a directioncorresponding to the direction of the torque in the yarn, and successivecourses of said stocking portions being knit of yarns having oppositetorque.
 3. A panty hose according to claim 1 wherein the upper part ofsaid seamless tubular portion includes a curved rear edge substantiallyconforming to the calf, knee and thigh of the leg of the wearer.
 4. Apanty hose according to claim 1 wherein said panty portion includes adouble thickness turned welt portion at the upper end thereof, and anelastic waist band connected to the upper edge of said turned welt.
 5. Apanty hose according to claim 1 including a run-stop band positionedbetween the panty portion and the stocking leg portions, said run-stopband comprising a plurality of courses of special stitches including astepped regularly recurring pattern of tuck stitches.